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Syrian Forces Gun Down Protesters; Finding the Next Fraud; Obama Under Fire for Libya; Japanese Workers Head Back Nuclear Plant; Tokyo Tap Water Safe Once Again; U.S. Census Bureau: Sharp Shift in Nation's Racial Makeup; Zero Gravity on Earth; The Madness Continues; Report From the Arctic Circle
Aired March 24, 2011 - 12:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, Suzanne.
You don't have to know a millisievert from a mole hill to be concerned about Japanese radiation traveling the winds to America. The source, if you need to be reminded, is the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant -- you can see it there, right there behind me -- which has overheated to the point of multiple explosions and fires since the earthquake and tsunami two weeks ago tomorrow.
Two positive developments today. Officials say radiation levels in Tokyo tap water fell back to levels that don't pose a threat to anybody. And reactor number three stopped smoking, allowing workers to get back on site. Two workers had to be hospitalized when they stepped in a radioactive puddle.
Some 5,000 miles away, EPA monitors have picked up miniscule traces of airborne radiation in some of these states here. That would include Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington state and Colorado. They're being traced back to that Daiichi plant. But in every case, the feds say the levels are, and I quote, "Thousands of times below any conservative level of concern."
And we can't say this often enough, radio activity is really everywhere and all of us are exposed to it actually every day. It comes from space and we're exposed to it on airplanes. It comes from the earth, it's in the ocean, it's in our meat, our vegetables, even our beer. The issue isn't avoidance, it is amounts.
CNN's Ted Rowlands is tracking those in Los Angeles. Ted, there are really two issues here that we're talking about, the facts and the fears, so let's start with the facts.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you said, Randi, basically the facts are pretty clear and it's -- most every expert that has looked at the data from the EPA monitoring systems, they all say basically the same thing in that there is way too much space between the west coast and even Hawaii and Japan, some 5,000 miles, the detection that they had received from these EPA monitoring systems are minuscule, like you say, there is no problem for people living on the west coast.
That said, people don't like the idea of any radiation coming over here and we went on the street corner here in Los Angeles, and spent about an hour, and it did not take us long at all to find people who were read up on this, who knew all of the experts' opinions on this, yet they were still concerned about radiation. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course there's concern. I mean what happens halfway around the world will eventually affect us as well as the rest of the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about all the experts saying no big deal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think all the experts are saying that, but there's got to be some concern. With radiation escaping, this concerned Japan and eventually there will be concern over here, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The government has a vested interested in saying no, and who knows, they're finding it in the food over there. They're finding it in water, they're finding it in some people, so obviously, it has some problem -- there's some problem with it, but whether it's going to come here or not, who knows.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just think that we don't have anything to compare it to, so it's all a guessing game and I think anyone says that they know, it's guessing. So --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're concerned?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm very concerned.
ROBERT DEMAYO, PSYCHOLOGIST, PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY: People are much more likely to trust in their basic sense of fear, their anxiety about this. The people issuing advisories, don't do anything, don't worry about it, many people view as not credible, not believable, and people believe that the cost of not doing anything is greater than the cost of doing something.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS: And Randi, really the theme, that we heard from people that did have some concern, was based -- you pull it all the way back, it's mistrust. They just don't trust people, they don't trust scientists, they don't trust the government, and you question these people and say, well listen, there are no facts to base your fear on, yet, they just don't like the idea of radiation being admitted and they're convinced that at some point down the line it's detrimental to human health, including for folks here on the west coast.
KAYE: Yes, well, radiation has always been a bit of a bad word so I can understand why there's some fear, of course. Ted Rowlands for us, thank you.
I want to bring in our Chad Myers. Let's talk about how and where this radiation is spreading to. How is it moving, in a big cloud or what?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Not so much in a cloud because air goes up and down and if it's caught in the jet stream, we don't have to worry about that, that's just going to go around the world many, many times, it will degrade in its half-lives and go away. What we have to worry about is from the surface to about 15,000 feet because that can be rained out. That can be clustered into rain drops and lay on the ground, come down to the ground.
But it does blow around in the wind, it does attach itself to dust, to molecules, to water, to water vapor, and it has made its way across the U.S. We know that because there's almost a DNA to the radiation that's coming out of the plant here, cesium and the iodine.
KAYE: Right.
MYERS: We know what's coming out, we have looked at what's coming out. Typically, in a regular day, that never gets to America, that stuff isn't in our air. Wind blow offshore, they come and they go. I found this amazing EPA monitor, and I will put this on my Twitter site in a second, ChadMyersCNN, all one word. You can go to every big city in the country, click on your city and look at your current radiation level. I'm going to go ahead and put this on there, you can click that on.
KAYE: Oh, that's great. So, California would be one of the states.
MYERS: Here's San Francisco.
KAYE: Sure.
MYERS: I'm going to want to grab white, because that's going to help (ph). San Francisco, here is the earthquake, right there, so somewhere in here was the accident. Look at the levels along San Francisco, all the way through there and then today the levels on this monitor have been thousands of times below this center of the level (ph), right? So, we see this.
Now, somewhere in here, maybe that little spike right there, maybe that little bump right there, there may have been something, but nothing compared to just a regular sunny day in Denver. Let's go to a different site monitor. Anything you want to pick, it doesn't matter to me. We're going to, right there, that's - would be Grand Junction, Colorado. There it comes, OK. So, on a big day, there's a lot of sunshine. Grand Junction, high in the sky, not protected by the lower atmosphere.
KAYE: Right.
MYERS: So, you get these big spikes up and down.
KAYE: Just because of the altitude.
MYERS: Just because of the altitude and because the sun comes out. On a non-sunny day, there's not much at -- there's not much radiation. So, let's just go here, let's look -- look for a spike that's happened after the earthquake. There's nothing, literally nothing that looks like this where we need to be, oh my gosh, we just got hit by something.
KAYE: And it doesn't --
MYERS: Somewhere in here is that iodine and cesium, but it's so low, it's insignificant right now.
KAYE: And it really doesn't hang in the air very -- for a very long time. It can't last for a very long time.
MYERS: Some of the half-lives can last a long time, maybe 30 years.
KAYE: Oh.
MYERS: Yes, but the ones that are the most radioactive last eight or 10 seconds, whshsh (ph), just like that.
KAYE: OK, it would be really bad stuff (ph).
MYERS: And if you're not right around the plant, you're never going to get that.
KAYE: All right, I like this. Put this on your Twitter account.
MYERS: It will be there. ChadMyersCNN.
KAYE: OK, I'm going to have to follow you.
Some of the other big stories that we're following today. The French military says one of its fighter jets has destroyed a Libyan plane at an air base near Misrata. Initial reports said the plan was shot down from the sky, but the French defense ministry now says it was struck by an air to ground missile as it landed after violating the U.N.'s no fly zone.
After days of fierce fighting and mounting casualties, the opposition is reportedly clinging to control in Misrata, but with most water service cut off, and medical supplies now running low, A groups are afraid it's the beginning of a humanitarian crisis.
Protesters in Syria say there's been no letup in the violence suppression of prodemocracy demonstrations. This is all going on in the southern town of Daraa where security forces are accused of repeatedly firing on civilians. According to human rights activists, at least 34 people have been killed in the last two days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE (voice-over): This video was posted online yesterday and is said to show some of that violence, CNN cannot independently confirm that. Just last hour, a government minister said President Bashar al- Assad opposes the U.S. -- the use of force against demonstrators but realizes mistakes could have been made. CROWD: (People shouting.)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: A live picture of Flighttracker.com, you can see it there behind me. Those are all of the planes that are in the air right now. Imagine though, what would happen if they had to land without the help of air traffic control? That actually did happen to two planes at Washington's Regan National Airport shortly after midnight Wednesday. The pilots were unable to reach anyone in the air traffic control tower.
We've just learned that the air traffic controller on duty has been suspended. The controller's failure to respond caused one of the pilots to reach out to a regional air traffic control facility. Take a listen.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, TRACON CONTROLLER: American 1900, so you're aware, the tower is apparently not manned. We've made a few phone calls. Nobody's answering. So two airplanes went in the past 10 to 15 minutes, so you can expect to go in as an uncontrolled airport.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, PILOT: Is there a reason it's not manned?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, TRACON CONTROLLER: Well, I'm going to take a guess and say that the controller got locked out. I've heard of this happening before.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, PILOT: That's the first time I've heard of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, TRACON CONTROLLER: Yes, fortunately, it's not very often, but yes, it happened about a year ago. I'm not sure that's what happened now, but anyway there's nobody in the tower.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, PILOT: That's interesting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, TRACON CONTROLLER: It is. (END AUDIOTAPE)
KAYE: Both planes ended up landing without incident, luckily.
Transportation Secretary Ray La Hood has now ordered the FAA to schedule two people on the overnight shift. He said, quote, "It is not acceptable to have just one controller in the tower managing air traffic in this critical air space. I have also asked FAA administrator Randy Babbitt to study staffing levels at other airports around the country." Unquote.
Former national transportation safety board managing director, Peter Goelz, joins me now.
Peter, I got to say, this sounds outrageous, it happened in Washington, D.C. The plane's carrying 165 passengers and crew, the airport only a couple of miles from the White House. Should we be concerned about national security when we see something like this?
PETER GOELZ, FORMER MANAGING DIRECTOR, NTSB: Well, you need to be concerned about the basic competency of the management of that tower. It is outrageous that this controller was not at his station and able to respond to these aircraft for some considerable period of time, it's just simply inexplicable.
KAYE: And the pilots took matters into their own hands. I mean, they landed these planes -- is this something that they're trained for?
GOELZ: Oh, absolutely. I mean, the idea of landing at a -- at an untowered aircraft -- airport is something that pilots do on a regular basis. My guess is 125 to 150 of the 330 airports where commercial flights land every day, probably that many are either not powered or the tower shuts down at a certain time. And so, pilots are landing, you know, every day at -- in -- under these circumstances.
KAYE: Yes, but this is a major airport and now that we know the air traffic controller has been suspended, do you expect any more fallout from this?
GOELZ: Well, I think there will be. I think there's two things they're going to look at. One is they're going to look at the tower and say what was going on for 20 or 25 minutes? Why weren't you able to respond? What -- you know, there were phone calls made, there were, you know, radio communications that were ignored. And then they're going to look at the regional TRACON center and say, what's the procedure that we should follow when a tower like at Reagan National is nonresponsive? Should they have diverted to, say, Dallas or to BWI Thurgood Marshall? I think there's going to be some real fallout from this event.
KAYE: And Ray La Hood is ordering a second controller on duty, is this new and is this enough?
GOELZ: Well, it's not new. I mean, there was -- the NTSB has been concerned about fatigue in all aspects of transportation and the controllers need to have backup. Particularly on these graveyard shifts where fatigue can really be a challenge. Some of these guys will work two eight-hour shifts in a single 24-hour period, that puts tremendous demands on their, you know, ability to stay alert.
KAYE: Yes, this is such an interesting topic and such an interesting discussion. We want to talk more with you, I have so many more questions for you. So, we're going to talk more with you next hour, so please do stick around for us. Peter Goelz, we'll talk with you shortly. Thank you.
GOELZ: Thank you.
KAYE: All right.
Have you heard about this? The new app for smart phones called color? We want to know what you think about this. It's a new kind of social network that allows users of smart phones to instantly share photos, videos and texts with literally anyone around them, including total strangers. Some call it virtual voyeurism(ph). That's because it doesn't have the typical friending or following that you see on Facebook or Twitter.
You just click a button and you will instantly be sharing or receiving photos that cannot be removed from your feed. So go to our blog, CNN.com/Ali and share your thoughts on this. And you can also post on Ali's Facebook and Twitter accounts and on my Twitter account as well at RandiKayeCNN. We'll share your comments later on in the show.
Just ahead on "Your Money," Bernie Madoff stole billions in client's money and wasn't caught until his own kids blew the whistle on him. Why some are now saying it could happen again and government regulators may not even be able to stop it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back.
We do a segments here every day called "Your Money." And today it is about exactly that, your money and what could happen to it. It's still fresh in our minds how regulators missed the mega billion dollar Bernie Madoff fraud for years but he wasn't caught until members of his own family blew the whistle on him, you may recall. Well, now the agency that is in charge of overseeing the people who handle your money says the whistle blower unit isn't hiring anyone because it doesn't have the money. CNNMoney's Poppy Harlow joins me from New York now.
Poppy, does this mean that there could actually be another Madoff then just waiting to happen?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Absolutely. You know, this is something, Randi, that surprisingly to me hasn't gotten a lot of headlines. But the SEC, mainly for budget reasons, has not been able to staff a whistle blower unit that was mandated as part of financial reform that is supposed to be up and running in less than a month.
What they've done is they've hired this man, I'll show you, Sean McKessi (ph), to head it up, but they have a hiring freeze at the whole agency. They can't bring anyone in. And, remember, this is the agency that over 16 years missed or ignored multiple warnings from different people about Bernie Madoff. The concern is that something like that is going to happen again, even though the SEC is getting many more what they call high quality tips about major fraud. So we wanted to know more. We went down to Washington to talk to the head of the enforcement division at the SEC and the head of the National Whistleblower Association. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERT KHUZAMI, ENFORCEMENT DIRECTOR, SEC: We not only can't hire, but we can't even fill the positions that have become vacant. We're staffing it through borrowing resources from other parts of the enforcement division. STEPHEN KOHN, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL WHISTLEBLOWERS CENTER: You don't staff a baseball team with football players and hockey players. So let's be for real. Whistleblowing is a critical function. It needs people with expertise.
HARLOW (voice-over): Stephen Kohn has been representing whistleblowers for more than two decades.
HARLOW (on camera): The SEC says we don't have the funding. We need more funding. They can't get it, at least not right now.
KOHN: Well, they have to make priorities. They have to get employees with expertise in whistleblowing. Maybe they have to lay off other employees.
KHUZAMI: I think it is penny wise and pound foolish to deny the relatively small amounts of money that the commission needs in order to do its job.
HARLOW: Are we ripe for another Madoff?
KOHN: It's going to happen. It's going to happen.
HARLOW: Why?
KOHN: Because it's the nature of cheating on Wall Street.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: And he also goes on to say that fraud pays. As for the amount of money we're talking about, Randi, it's about $200 billion. That's what President Obama has asked the SEC to get this year. A total of $1.3 billion. So a $200 million increase. They can't get it. Congress won't sign off on it.
And when you look at how political this is, it's just amazing. It's very cut down party lines. We have state and federal budget crises. Barney Frank, a Democrat, who pushed through Wall Street reform. He is saying this is a deliberate attempt, Randi, he thinks by Republicans to sort of undercut Wall Street reform, undercut that oversight.
And then we also talked to Ed Royce, a Republican from California who sits on the financial services committee. And I want to show you what he has to say. This is his side of the argument. He says, "unfortunately, over the last decades, the SEC's budget has nearly tripled." And he goes on to say, "it has repeatedly failed to stop the most egregious cases of fraud."
So, Randi, this is a political issue and anyone watching it is an investor out there, you should know that this unit is not staffed yet with new hires. They are bringing people in where they can from the SEC. So, you know, you really have to be watching your money.
KAYE: Yes. And we're glad you're watching it for us. Poppy Harlow, thank you. Be sure to join Christine Romans for "Your Bottom Line" each Saturday morning at 9:30 Eastern and "Your Money" with Ali Velshi Saturday's at 1:00 p.m. Eastern and Sunday's at 3:00.
President Obama is taking heat from both sides of the aisle over the U.S. military's mission in Libya. Ed Henry will bring us that back (ph) story and much more right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Just about 25 minutes past the hour.
President Obama is back from his Latin America trip and he is spending time today working behind the scenes to rally support for the mission in Libya. And when we want to know what's going on behind the scenes, well, we turn to Ed Henry. He joins me live now from the White House.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, Randi.
KAYE: Hi there, Ed.
HENRY: Good to see you.
KAYE: Even some lawmakers who support this mission or the no-fly zone are questioning the president's exit strategy. What are you hearing?
HENRY: Well, no doubt about it. I mean even when former speaker Nancy Pelosi put out a statement relatively supportive of the president, she made clear she has questions as well. And I think that's because you have a lot of her fellow Democrats on The Hill who are raising a lot of tough questions. The Republicans are certainly leading the charge on it. You've got speaker John Boehner sending the president a pretty tough letter yesterday that had, when you counted up, probably about 16 questions in there about the scope of the mission and how long this is going to last and how much it's going to cost.
But I think it really boils down to one question, and that's, what is the end game? And I think lawmakers in both parties feel like they have not gotten a clear enough idea. Jay Carney is briefing reporters behind me as we speak and he was really trying to push back on all that by pointing out the president brought all these lawmakers in both parties in last Friday here at the White House Situation Room. A lot of lawmakers say, well, no, we were just kind of informed. We were told what was happening. We weren't really brought in for consultation. They're going to argue about that back and forth, but at the end of the day, this White House feels like they gave Congress ample time to think this over, chew it over, but there's still a lot of lawmakers who believe that that one question they have out of the 16 John Boehner threw out there, which is, what is the end game, has still not been answered.
KAYE: So I want to ask you, who is, then, most important for the president to win over? The Democrats, the Republicans hawks, the Senate, the speaker of the house? Take your pick.
HENRY: Well, I think -- you know, you're right. When you lay it out like that, he's got to win all of those people to some extent, but I think he's going to start with the Democrats in his own party. I mean it's been extremely rare that this president has had what appears to be an outright revolt among some of his fellow Democrats saying, look, we were not accurately (ph) consulted. But beyond that, we've got real questions. I mean there were four House Democrats in the last couple of days ago who sent the president a letter that basically said -- used words like quagmire and open-ended conflict and whatnot. It was a kind of letter you would think Democrats on The Hill would have sent to George W. Bush about Iraq, for example.
We have not seen that for this president. He's got to first, at least, quell that revolt in his own party before he can even think about bringing John Boehner along. And I think one way that's now floating around out there as a possibility is, will the president have some sort of Oval Office address. He's only done that a couple of times. He's really reserved that for major, major things, like the BP oil spill and the reaction to that. Will he do that again? Jay Carney was just asked that. Door's wide open. He said, look, I'm not going to get in to what he may or may not do, but you'll hear from him soon. Now, is that going to be a speech, is it going to be an Oval Office address? We'll see the details. But he's going to have to not just address the lawmakers, but address the public, there's no doubt about it.
KAYE: Ed, real quickly before I let you go, there was a bit of a light moment, though, at the White House yesterday. The president got locked out of his own house?
HENRY: Well, you know, he got off the helicopter from the Latin America trip. You know, I was there with him in Latin America. And every single day he was getting beaten up, as you were noting, not just by Republicans but Democrats as well. So what he do when he got off the helicopter? He walks over to the Oval Office thinking he'll get some respite, finally, and he -- you can probably see it in the video, he tried to open up the French doors they were locked.
KAYE: Oops.
HENRY: You know, I mean, have you ever been on vacation or been on a work trip and you come back and your door is locked or the key -- the things have been changed? I mean you feel completely out of sorts and you would think if you're the commander in chief, they'd have the door ready for you.
The president was very cool under fire, I will say, and walked to the next door and that one was open. I think they were petrified inside the White House about that image. If he hadn't found that second door open --
KAYE: Oh, my.
HENRY: That image of the president being locked out of the Oval Office, that's how things -- how bad things have gotten for -- it would have been an awful image for him.
KAYE: Yes.
HENRY: He's lucky that second door was open.
KAYE: He kept his cool, though. He didn't knock on the window, hey, let me in, let me in. He just walked over to the next door. One of these has got to be open, right?
HENRY: Oh, man. The picture says a thousand words. That one, you know, the president locked out, would have just been awful. It would have been awful.
KAYE: Oh, yes.
All right, Ed Henry, always great to talk with you. Thank you.
HENRY: Good to see you, Randi.
KAYE: A big development in presidential politics. Is Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann making a move for President Obama's job? The details in a CNN exclusive, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Half past the hour now, updating the headlines and news you may have missed. This is the scene from inside Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant. Workers are back today after evacuating on Wednesday because of black smoke billowing from the plant. Three workers were exposed to unprecedented levels of radiation after stepping into radioactive water. Two of the men were hospitalized.
Meanwhile officials say tap water in Tokyo is considered safe for babies once again. New tests today show radioactive levels have fallen sharply from two days ago. But the water in areas just 20 miles outside of Tokyo, still considered too dangerous for infants to drink.
In Libya, the focus now shifts from the Libyan air force to Moammar Gadhafi's troops on the ground. Coalition forces have bombarded pro-Gadhafi targets for six days now. But that's not stopping Gadhafi from launching attacks. His forces are still pushing back with force today from the west in Misrata, to the east in Ajdabiya.
The coalition successfully established a no-fly zone along the Libyan coastline, but we received word just a short time ago that a Libyan plane violated the no-fly zone and was shot by a French jet as it landed in Misrata. Overall, a U.S. official says the rebels are in a better position but Gadhafi still has the upper hands. His troops are well organized and skilled.
U.S. Army General Wesley Clark will join us in just a few minutes to talk more about the coalition's new focus to target the ground troops there. You can now add Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann to the presidential candidates. CNN has learned that the Minnesota Republican and Tea Party favorite will form a presidential exploratory committee. She plans to file papers to do that in June, if not earlier.
The U.S. Census Bureau is about to give us some revealing numbers in a briefing shortly. The numbers are expected to show a sharp shift in the nation's racial makeup over the past decade. The census data shows the Hispanic population has exploded to 50 million people, accounting for nearly half of the nation's growth since 2000. Demographers say it's part of a trend where in three decades, whites will be a minority.
At the last minute, Mark Kelly, the husband of Congressman Gabrielle Giffords has backed out of interviews with the media following a press conference with the Endeavor crew. That press conference was just held in Houston at 1:00 Eastern Time. Kelly is set to command the mission to the International Space Station on April 19th. He has publicly said he is optimistic his wife will attend that launch. Giffords is currently being treated at a Houston rehab center after being shot in the head in January.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Anti-government protesters in Syria continue to show extraordinary defiance against the iron fisted government of President Bashar al Assad. Thousands took to the streets of the southern city of Daraa today for the funeral of several demonstrators killed yesterday in clashes with security forces. These pictures posted on Facebook are said to show the dead and the wounded but CNN hasn't been able to confirm their authenticity.
Human rights activists say 34 people have been killed in the past two days. Demonstrations have escalated sharply since last Friday, despite emergency laws that have banned public gatherings for nearly 50 years.
In Israel, more violence erupted today between Israeli forces and militant Palestinians. It comes one day after a bomb attack at a bus station in Jerusalem killed one person and wounded dozens. No one has claimed responsibility for that and no word on whether the attack the linked to today's clashes.
Israeli military says five rockets and a mortar round fired from Gaza exploded deep inside its territory but there were no casualties. Israeli aircraft responded by striking in Gaza. No reports of casualties there either.
In Japan, another setback in the fight to stop radiation leaks from that nuclear power plant damaged by this month's earthquake. Two of three workers who stepped in radioactive contaminated water have been hospitalized. Workers who were evacuated from the plant yesterday returned there today.
One bit of good news, smoke is no longer rising from one of the reactors, but officials still don't know what was causing it. In any event, crews are once again pumping tons of water into the reactor in a bid to cool down those nuclear fuel rods.
We want to talk more about Libya and for that, every day, actually, we talk with our General Wesley Clark who is a CNN contributor. So we want to speak with him now.
General, glad you're with us. Appreciate it.
Let's talk about Libya. Why don't you tell me -- isn't there at some point going to be some ground forces that are necessary? This isn't going to be all about an air assault. And if so, whose ground forces are those going to be?
RET. GEN. WESLEY CLARK, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it's the key question that people are asking.
The design of the campaign is that the air campaign will take out Gadhafi's air force and bring air strikes to bear against Gadhafi's ground forces. And then, the combination of the opposition ground forces, international sanctions, the international criminal court, and other political pressures will convince Gadhafi to give up. And it might happen. And the question is, will it happen, and what can be done to accelerate it?
So right now it seems the critical point is how effective will the air strikes be against Gadhafi's ground forces in the vicinity of, say, Misrata?
KAYE: So, has an air assault, though, ever really won a war?
CLARK: Well, we certainly succeeded in Kosovo in 1999. We had on the ground there, some 40,000 served troops that were oppressing a population of about two million. They'd driven 100 -- 900,000 Albanians out of the country, 500,000 have fled their homes and are staying in the country and NATO worked on it for 78, 79 days.
And the combination of the air strikes, diplomacy and the threat of a ground invasion convinced Milosevic to give up and pull his forces out and let the Albanians come in, and NATO came in as an occupation force to help settle the situation there.
So, yes, there is a precedent for this. It doesn't necessarily have to have all the way through to a ground invasion. And here you have a ground force with the opposition. Now they may not be capable of doing what needs to be done, and that's a factor that's going to have to be taken into account in the steps ahead.
KAYE: Yes, but some though might look at this and say, well, you know, the coalition seems to be fighting for basically a stalemate between the regime and the rebels.
How does that appear to you?
CLARK: Well, I think that you have to go back to the origins of this and say that at the time the coalition intervened, the time the U.N. Security Council resolution, Gadhafi was well on his way to ravaging Benghazi. He promised no mercy, there were 700,000 people in the city, and he was going to execute what seemed to be a mass murder in there. So that was stopped. And that's been a significant success of the military action thus far.
So it remains to be seen how far forward the military action carries the momentum against the Gadhafi regime and whether he just decides, hey, the end is inevitable, I'm leaving. I think the end is inevitable if the coalition hangs together or if they resolve these command and control issues, bring in the Arab allies. I think it can be gained without excessive force on the ground.
KAYE: All right. General Wesley Clark, always a pleasure to speak with you.
Thank you, General.
CLARK: Thank you.
KAYE: So imagine being able to pick something up weighing 25 pounds with just your fingertips, almost as if you were in space, right? That's what it sounds like. Well, we're going to show you live right here in our studio coming up after the quick break quick.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Every day here on the show, we do a segment called the Big I. It's all about big new ideas and innovations to help with big problems. Well today, we're talking about technology that brings zero gravity down to earth.
According to our friends over at CNNMoney.com, injuries from overexertion, cost U.S. companies more than $13 billion every year. So basically if you've ever held your hands up for a long period of time, yes, you know that is. You know how your arms get really tired? Well, now imagine if you were able to hold your arms up for a long time without getting tired.
Here to show us all this great, new technology is a company called Equipois. Eric Golden is the CEO.
Eric, good to see you.
ERIC GOLDEN, CEO, EQUIPOIS: Thank you.
KAYE: And we also have Tony Sacksteder, he's the VP of Technology.
Tony, let's start with you. I know we have Chad Myers here, he's our model. You're going to demonstrate a little bit on how this -- tell us how it works while you put it on Chad so he can get a feel for it.
TONY SACKSTEDER, VP OF TECHNOLOGY, EQUIPOIS: This is the exoskeletal arm system. What this does, it provides an attachment to somebody's arm and gives them a little bit of extra muscle so that when they're doing their job, doing their work, they get a little bit of help.
KAYE: OK, so can you put that on?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I am going to draw, they want me to draw 25 circles without it on.
KAYE: All right. Good luck with that. I'm sure your arm's going to get tired.
SACKSTEDER: You probably already feel a little bit of stress and strain in your shoulder right now.
MYERS: Well, you know what? I'm thinking about this because I used to install audio equipment u underneath the car dashes, and every day my neck would come back and I would be sore just holding up my head, trying to install these radios. I can imagine what this would do for someone who has to be strained like that, with the muscles straining all the time.
So my circles are good circles, but not exactly worn out. But now, if you take a look, my arm doesn't weigh anything.
KAYE: So it's being held up by that?
MYERS: It's floating. And think of what if I was carrying a seven-pound drill right now, being held up to zero. So I'm going to draw circles.
KAYE: OK. You go back to work.
Tony, if you would, I mean, we have actually our cameraman who's shooting this, it's a steady cam, that's what we call that technology and this sort of feels like that, this technology helps him hold the camera up that we're all on.
SACKSTEDER: That's right. The XR and the Zero G products that we do are all grandchildren of the steady cam. This is the DNA of the system. And most people don't get much of a chance to look at steady cam up close, but what you see is a linkage and a suspension system.
And, Matt, if you jump up and down a little bit, the camera doesn't shake. And this suspension system just gives us full freedom of motion.
KAYE: We don't usually ask Matt to jump up and down but I'm glad you did.
SACKSTEDER: We took that idea of having full freedom of motion, and let's give it to the operator.
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: It feels amazing.
KAYE: Can I try it?
MYERS: Yes, absolutely.
KAYE: You feel like you have more strength in your arm?
MYERS: I don't think you have to do circles though.
KAYE: No. What should I do Xs? I'll do Xs and we'll play Tic Tac Toe.
Eric, if you would, what sort of applications do you think you could see this technology being used for?
GOLDEN: Well, essentially anything where people have to work with their arms outstretched. And it could be a surgeon who has to perform a long operation, or dentists or dental hygienists who have a very high injury rate, or it could be somebody working in a factory or a lab.
Just working with your arms outstretched for long periods, you get tired, it affects your precision, and after week or years, people can actually require shoulder surgery. So this just gives them more endurance and more strength.
MYERS: Now the auto industry must love this. Don't they?
GOLDEN: They do, they do. They have our Zero G products holding tools and this is just the next step in that direction for people with precision work to do.
MYERS: I wonder if Picasso had this.
KAYE: Imagine.
MYERS: Imagine what the paintings may have looked like.
KAYE: I might start painting with this technology.
All right, can you release me?
SACKSTEDER: Just pull your arm out.
Oh, and that's it? It's that simple?
SACKSTEDER: Yes.
KAYE: All right, so what does the future hold for this?
GOLDEN: So our next step is actually to take the technology and help people with disabilities who because of brain injuries or people coming back from Iraq or Afghanistan can't move their arms forward so we would love to help people improve their quality of life.
A little bit farther down the road we envision having a whole suit that will help senior citizens or disabled people walk or improve their daily lives.
KAYE: Wow. So can anyone get this, and how much does it cost? GOLDEN: Well, yes, everybody can get it, and the cost is around $2,500. We're really trying to make it affordable. There are suits out there that cost $5 million or $10 million trying to do the same thing. We want to be able to have the maximum impact out there.
KAYE: It's amazing when you -- I mean, it really makes you feel like just weightless.
MYERS: And I could imagine even carpal tunnel as you're typing, because your arms would literally be above the keyboard. There's so many applications that are just going through my head right now.
KAYE: Yes, it's incredible support.
SACKSTEDER: We found for every application we think of, there must be a dozen more that haven't even occurred to us yet. And we're listening closely to the customers and get that feedback.
KAYE: Well, you'll probably get a whole lot of emails after this segment, some new ideas that you can get to work on.
SACKSTEDER: Looking forward to it.
KAYE: Eric, Tony, appreciate it.
MYERS: Congrats.
KAYE: Nice work with your circles.
SACKSTEDER: You have nice Xs.
KAYE: I did the Xs, yes.
All right, well, to check out the Zero G arm, head to Ali's blog, CNN.com/Ali, we will link you to the Equipois website and also hook you up with a CNNMoney.com article on this very same technology. It is so cool
March Madness rolls on. We started with 68 teams, now we're down to 16. So what's ahead in the tourney? Well, we'll take a look next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: So let's get you caught up on the college basketball tournament action continuing tonight. This tournament has provided plenty of ups and downs -- big teams falling, smaller teams rising.
We've got two guys with us now who know a thing about basketball. SI.com's B.J. Schecter joins us from New York, and with us from Jacksonville, Illinois is Jacob Tucker who's amazing hoops have gained him quite a following around the net; and we're talking the Internet, not the basketball net.
Let's start with B.J. with a preview of tonight's action.
So, B.J., tonight I hear we've got three of the top players in college basketball playing tonight. Tell us a little bit about that.
B.J. SCHECTER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, SI.COM: Well, I think college basketball fans are in for a real treat tonight. And it's going to be great because you have Jim Fredette of BYU, Kemba Walker at UConn and Nolan Smith at Duke all playing. In addition, you have Derrick Williams of Arizona also playing, as well. So you have some of the nation's top players.
The tournament, the early rounds are all about upsets and Cinderellas, and there's still a few left in VCU and Richmond and Butler as well, but now we're talking about the real heavyweights. And I think tonight especially, Duke and Arizona, San Diego State and UConn, Florida and BYU are four really high-quality games that are going to be among the best in the tournament so far.
KAYE: Yes, a lot of people will certainly be watching.
And, Jacob, you certainly know a little something about having a lot of eyes on you, over 2 million views on YouTube of your dunks. What made you post these?
JACOB TUCKER, SENIOR, ILLINOIS COLLEGE: Well, I originally just posted them for the company that choose the dunkers in the contest to see it, cause that was my original goal was to get in the contest. And then everything that has happened since then, all the YouTube views and everything, that wasn't planned for me.
KAYE: I'm watching these dunks, and they really are incredible.
How long -- did you teach yourself how to do this or what? Because they are amazing.
TUCKER: This is something I've been doing since early in my high school days. So dunking comes very easily to me. I really don't have to practice that much, even though I have been, you know, the last couple weeks trying to get ready for the contest.
KAYE: And I bet a lot of people watching are probably wondering how tall you are.
TUCKER: I am about 5'11" --
KAYE: Well, you certainly --
TUCKER: -- with shoes on or 5'10" without shoes, sorry.
KAYE: The shoes matter.
B.J., a huge game tomorrow between Ohio State and Kentucky.
SCHECTER: Yes, I think this is -- this has the potential to be one of the best games in the tournament so far. It's a Final Four- worthy matchup and it's only in the Sweet Sixteen.
Ohio State is the prohibitive favorite, the number one overall seed coming into the tournament. And Kentucky year after year, John Calipari, in his two years in Lexington, has recruited some of the nation's top players. They're very young, they're very talented.
Ohio State also has a player of the year candidate in Jared Sullinger. The Buckeyes haven't yet been tested. I think they're going to get really tested in this early matchup in Newark.
It's really going to be a treat. It will go a long way to see who's going to come out of the East Region into the Final Four.
KAYE: And, Jacob, last question to you. I want to know how your bracket is doing, but I also know that you're in a gym there.
Is there any chance you have a ball nearby that you could show us a dunk?
TUCKER: No, I don't have a ball nearby. Sorry about that.
KAYE: Well, how is your bracket doing then? We'll ask you that instead.
TUCKER: Well, I have Ohio State winning it. And so, I know you're talking about Ohio State and Kentucky, so I hope Ohio state wins.
KAYE: All right. Then I'm sure you'll continue to get all those views on your incredible video on YouTube, over 2 million views and growing.
B.J., Jacob, great to talk with you guys this afternoon. We'll see you soon.
TUCKER: Thanks for having me on.
SCHECTER: Thanks.
KAYE: Sure.
You don't want to miss what we have for you next. CNN's special correspondent and environmentalist Philippe Cousteau joins us for an update on his expedition in the arctic and a demonstration on how to survive an encounter with a polar bear. You do not want to miss this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Whether you believe that global warming is a natural cycle of the planet or manmade, it's proving to be a problem for this planet of ours.
Well, this week our special correspondent and environmentalist Philippe Cousteau and a team from CNN is in one of the coldest places on Earth as part of a vital study called the Catlin Arctic Survey. The team is looking at how the effect of melting ice can be felt globally.
After weeks of preparation, high winds delayed their departure from Resolute Bay in the northern Canadian arctic to the Catlin Arctic Survey Ice Base, but the team stayed busy training for encounter with a polar bear.
Here's Philippe with more on the third day of his expedition.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILIPPE COUSTEAU, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a little bit of bad news. We are stuck here in Resolute an extra day due to bad weather and high winds. We were supposed to fly to Ice Base, but have been delayed.
So not wanting to waste time, we headed out and spent much of the day doing additional training on the ice and in particular, we've been training for the unlikely but possible encounter we may have with a polar bear.
Now hopefully, if you encounter a polar bear, they will either ignore or not seem interested in you, or in some cases they won't even notice you or they may be curious but keep their distance. In both of those cases, the best thing to do is just to stop, calmly look at the bear, keep your eye on the bear, and back away from the bear. Certainly don't run, and if you have any deterrents, use them.
In particular, each of us are outfitted with this. It's basically like a little flare gun with an M-80 grenade on it, or an M- 80 firecracker on it. Now the point of this is to create a lot of noise to frighten the bear away from you. And all you do is screw it in and fire it off.
Now earlier our guide, John, showed us exactly how to use this out on the ice.
JOHN HUSTON, ARCTIC GUIDE: Screw it on there, make sure no one's standing in front of you and then you simply pull it back.
COUSTEAU: So hopefully, if all goes well, we will never have to use one of these. They are fun to fire off, I have to admit. But certainly don't want to have use them with a polar bear.
And if all goes well, we'll be on our way up to Ice Base tomorrow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: I hope you were taking notes on what to do if you encounter a polar bear.
And to read Philippe Cousteau's daily blogs about this expedition, head to Ali's blog CNN.com/Ali.
